Robert E. W. Fyffe, Ph.D., was named Wright State University vice president for research and graduate studies effective Feb. 6, 2012.

He served as associate dean for research affairs at Boonshoft School of Medicine in from 2001 through this year. In that position, he was responsible for administering programs designed to support the medical school's research activities in the basic and clinical sciences.

Dr. Fyffe is a professor of neuroscience, cell biology, and physiology at Wright State. From 2000 to 2006, he served as director of Wright State's Center for Brain Research, which was established with support from the Kettering Fund. In 2007, the School of Medicine significantly expanded the scope and mission of the Center for Brain Research by establishing the Comprehensive Neuroscience Center (CNC) for improving research of neurological, developmental, cognitive, psychiatric, and trauma-induced nervous system disorders. Later that year, Dr. Fyffe was one of five researchers associated with the CNC to receive a a prestigious Program Project Grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to further their research into why full recovery is not always achieved after damaged nerves have regenerated. In 2010, Wright State University and Premier Health Partners joined together to establish the WSU & PHP Neuroscience Institute, incorporating the CNC and further expanding the scope of neuroscience research at the medical school.

A native of Alexandria, Scotland, Dr. Fyffe received a B.Sc. degree with honors in biochemistry from the University of Glasgow. He holds M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in neurophysiology from the University of Edinburgh. Before joining Wright State's faculty in 1992, he was a research fellow at the Australian National University and a faculty member at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Fyffe's research on the anatomy and physiology of nerve cells is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

In 2008, Dr. Fyffe received the distinction of being named a University Professor. The title is a special rank awarded by the Wright State University Board of Trustees. It is reserved for full professors who have made outstanding contributions beyond the confines of their own discipline. Dr. Fyffe also has served as director of Wright State's Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. program.

Academics

Research statement:

Dr. Fyffe's laboratory is interested in synaptic mechanisms and integrative properties of neurons in spinal cord and brainstem circuits, involved in motor control and auditory processing respectively. Current studies are focused on the patterns of expression, and the subcellular localization, of pre- and post synaptic membrane ion channels and neurotransmitter receptors. We use a range of quantitative light and electron microscopic experimental and analytical methods, in conjunction with electrophysiological and computational approaches. Our primary collaborators, in addition to colleagues within the department, include Bruce Walmsley (Australian National University), Ken Rose (Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario) and Brian Robertson (University of Leeds, UK).

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